Saturday, June 03, 2017

Friday nights are often the best nights, and last night was one of the best for the Dodgers in recent memory. Not only did the Dodgers still sit atop the heap in the West, but youthful power hitting slugger, Cody Bellinger, was also named the National National League Rookie of the Month to start off the day. To commemorate this achievement Topps has issued a 2017 Topps Now card, and it happens to include fellow phenom Aaron Judge. Go here to check this card out. Per the description on the reverse:

Aaron Judge earned his second consecutive American League Rookie of the Month award by posting a .347 average with seven homers and seventeen RBI in the month of May. Judge also currently leads the league in home runs with seventeen on the year. Cody Bellinger hi t.245 with nine homers and 27 RBI to bring his first National League Rookie of the Month awards. Judge and Bellinger combined for 16 home runs and 44 RBI in May.

UPDATE: The print run for this card is at 1,751 copies.

As if inspired, Clayton Kershaw got on the mound on Friday and mowed down a 14 Brewer batters; including his 2,000th career strike out in the process. Per Ken Gurnick at MLB.com:

"He was unbelievable," Roberts said. "I don't know what else to say. He had command of everything he got moving toward home plate. Went to the curve early, the arm-side fastball and that was wide open. The slider was good, the 14 punch-outs in seven innings. It was a joy to watch."

Naturally, there is an Topps Now card to honor Kershaw's newest milestone. Topps also made a limited number of certified autographed variations cards available. Unfortunately, all of those autographed cards are now sold out as of this posting. (you can see them at the bottom of this post) Go here to check this card out. Per the description on the reverse:

Clayton Kershaw recorded his 2,000th strike out when he got Jonathan Villar of the Brewers swinging for strike three. Kershaw is the second fastest pitcher to achieve the milestone, reaching the mark in is 277th game. Randy Johnson is the only player to achieve the feat faster when he did so in his 262nd career game.

"The swings and misses were amazing," said Kershaw, who set a season high with 14 strikeouts in seven innings before Dodgers relievers Pedro Baez, Grant Dayton and Jansen whiffed 12 more over the final five frames. "Our bullpen is pretty special. They throw that high fastball really well, and guys don't know if it's a strike or not and feel like they have to swing. Makes it really, really hard."

"The top of the strike zone was liberal tonight," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "It was definitely in play. Their relievers, that's kind of what they're good at. I thought they got a whole bunch of early strikes there. They made some good pitches late and kept climbing the ladder."

And the below card commemorates the number of whiffs that both the Dodgers and Brewers had to experience.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers set a National League record for combined strike outs in a game with 42 on the night. Kershaw reached the 2,000-strikeout plateau and Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen set an all-time mark for strikeouts without a walk to start a season. Brewers starter Jimmy Nelson also collected 11 K's of his own over eight scoreless innings.

UPDATE: The print run for this card is at 349 copies.

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Below is a peek at the five different certified autographed Clayton Kershaw cards - now sold out - paired with the corresponding card numbers and sale prices.

1 comment:

Hate, hate, hate that the card calls it an MLB record for most in an NL game. Um, why not just say it's an NL record like a normal person? They're trying to make it sound more important, but it just seems cheesy.

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